Sequels to 'Avatar,' Batman series on the way

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Hollywood knows that what works well once at the box office will probably work well again. Sequels to two top-grossing films are in the works.

The all-time box office champ “Avatar” will spawn not one but two sequels. Director James Cameron plans to start writing the scripts next year.

Don’t camp outside the multiplex yet – Cameron says he hopes to have the first of the two in theaters four years from now. The third in the series is expected to hit screens in five years.

Cameron says each film will tell a self-contained story based on his love of deep-sea exploration.

Despite the huge success of 3-D films like “Avatar,” producers plan to shoot the sequel to “The Dark Knight” in old-fashioned 2-D. “The Dark Knight Rises” will be the title of director Christopher Nolan’s next Batman installment. That film’s likely to show up in theaters two summers from now.

Nolan has yet to reveal which villain will appear in his next film, but he said it won’t be the Riddler. He also won’t revive the role of the Joker, for which Heath Ledger scored a supporting actor Oscar after his death in 2008.